Winter Heat
by RunningWithTime728
Summary: After the murder of a toy shop owner uncovers some Christmas coincidences and other bizarre twists, our favorite characters find themselves wondering how a seemingly simple case could put them into a situation they never saw coming. Some Caskett   romance
1. Fire

**Winter Heat**

**Ch. 1: Fire**

**Summary: After the murder of a Toy Shop owner uncovers some Christmas coincidences and other bizarre twists, our favorite characters find themselves wondering how a seemingly simple case could put them into a situation they never saw coming. Caskett, some romance and set season 4ish. Enjoy!**

The element of fire is a powerful thing. Fire is the thing burning in your soul, moving you to fight for the things you believe in. Fire represents a dream, a virtue, and a belief. If the fire has caught onto something, it fights for it until it has consumed it or until it has burned it down. It doesn't know fear or doubt, and it doesn't know mercy or shame either. If it wants something, it will get over everything in its path to get to it. Fire is the passion that keeps you going, even when hope is lost.

Detective Kate Beckett had used the phrase, "Fight fire with fire," many times since she had joined the police force. It was the only way to outsmart the criminals she had encountered and to get the upper hand. However, as she was learning now, whoever coined this phrase clearly didn't mean fight the spiritual element with the physical one.

The smoke and flames were closing in around her and she was completely helpless. It was becoming too much to breathe, and with every breath she took, there was a violent cough that followed. She longed to be outside in the crisp December air where she could not only inhale some fresh air, but where she could cool off as well. The heat was becoming too much to bear and she could feel her skin beginning to blister.

As a black haze crept upon her, the only thing she could think of was how she never had the chance to answer Castle's question…

As she began to wake again, she noticed that everything was different. It was quiet aside from the sound of a beeping machine, she was no longer burning up but freezing cold, and the air smelled of disinfectant. She opened her eyes and couldn't help but squint at the bright lights of the room. She blinked a few times, trying to form a clear image and figure out where she was. A blur of who she assumed was a person moved towards her and she finally understood that she must be in a hospital. She was alive.

As the person came to her side, their image began to clear up and she recognized the man as none other than her father.

Before she could open her mouth to say anything, her father smiled, put a hand on her cheek and said, "Welcome back, Katie."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I know this chapter leaves a lot of questions, but they will eventually be answered.**


	2. The First Snow

**Winter Heat**

**Ch. 2: The First Snow**

_72 hours earlier..._

"Kate? Kate, are you awake?" Kate Beckett found herself stirring from a good night's sleep to Richard Castle gently shaking her and asking her these questions. It wasn't the worst way to wake up in the morning, but she certainly could have kept sleeping.

"I am now," She mumbled as she rolled over to the side of the bed where Castle was sitting. He was in his navy robe and slippers, and by the two mugs of coffee and plate of pancakes sitting by the bed (his bed to be exact), he had been up for a while. "What do you want, Castle? And what time is it?" She asked as she groggily sat up.

"It's seven o'clock and I want to show you something," He replied with a childlike grin on his face.

"Can't it wait?" She asked as she laid back down on the bed.

"Nope," He firmly stated as he pulled her back up and handed her one of the mugs of coffee. She sighed and took his hand, allowing for him to take her wherever he wanted to go. He dragged her out to the living room and over to the window seat where the blinds were closed. "Wait for it…" He said as he motioned for her to take a seat. He then opened the blinds to reveal a winter wonderland coming down on New York City. "Tada!"

"You woke me up at seven in the morning to show me snow?" She asked with a bemused expression on her face.

"Not just any snow; the first snow of the year. And with it being close to Christmas, the first snow of the Holiday season," He corrected her. She looked outside and had to admit that with this being one of the best views in town, it certainly did look pretty.

"How long have you been up watching this?" She asked as he took a seat next to her.

"About an hour and a half," He smiled. "I tried to wait as long as I could to wake you."

"A couple more hours would have been too much to ask for?"

"Yes."

"It's great, Castle, but next time go wake up your daughter. Not your girlfriend. Well, now that I'm up, how about you start a fire in the fireplace while I go put something else on?" She suggested.

"Only if you promise to make it something sexy." She gave him a kiss on the lips, a wink, and walked back towards the bedroom. She could only imagine the expression on Castle's face as she left him in the living room.

As she was changing, her phone came to life and she saw on the caller ID that it was none other than Esposito.

"Morning Epo, what can I do for ya?" She asked as she answered the phone. Like all calls that came from him or Ryan in the morning, he told her they had a body drop and gave her the address.

"Hey Castle, don't get your hopes too high," She called from the bedroom as she took a different outfit to wear.

"Well after last night it's kind of hard not to…"

"Esposito just called and said we have a body in lower Manhattan." She couldn't help but smirk at the groan that followed. He sulked in and gave her a "really?" kind of look.

"You better hope this is good or you're sleeping at your own place tonight."

* * *

><p>"It's about time you two showed up," Ryan greeted Kate and Castle as they arrived at the crime scene. "You see that, Esposito? They didn't even bother to ride separately," Ryan quipped as Esposito came out the apartment building's front doors.<p>

"Cute," Esposito smirked as he looked to the two of them. She simply gave them 'the look,' while Castle probably gave them a thumbs up or some boyish gesture when she turned her back.

It had been almost a year since they went to Ryan and Jenny's wedding together and about six since they let everyone know that her and Castle were officially an item. The wedding had been a beautiful ceremony with a night full of dancing, catching the bouquet, and finding out that their newest captain of the Twelfth was a happily married woman. The guys still joked about their captain having her husband call her, "sir" too. Things were still new with her and Castle, yet sometimes when they got so absorbed solving a case and were arguing with the witty banter going back and forth, it was like they were already an old married couple.

"So what do we have?" She asked as Esposito lead them inside the building.

"Fifty-five year old male. Maintenance found him when they came by to repair some leaky pipes," Esposito filled her in.

He led them into the elevator and they headed up to the seventh floor. When the doors opened, their crime scene was the room across from the elevator. The entered it to find Lanie crouched next to the body who was wearing a costume of…

"Santa Claus?" Castle exclaimed as he finished her thought.

"It appears to be so," Lanie replied.

"And he was found by the fireplace?"

"Don't seem so excited, Castle. Try to remember this is a murder victim," She said.

"You couldn't tell me this on the ride up here?" Castle turned to the boys to ask.

"We knew you'd like this one, bro," Esposito replied with a grin as he and Ryan bumped fists.

"Tell me more about our friend from the North Pole, Lanie," She instructed.

It turned out their victim's name was Stanley Nicholson or St. Nick as an abbreviated version (as Castle pointed out). That was a little too coincidental for her. And to top it off, their vic owned a toy shop, and during the holiday's he was the store's Santa Claus, hence the costume. He was killed by blunt force trauma to the head but their murder weapon was nowhere to be found. Time of death was between 2 and 5am.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Was all she could say. Of course they would end up with this case. She could only imagine who their killer was and what kind of theorizing Castle was going to come up in the mean time.

While exchanging notes, Castle whispered in her ear, "I guess you're off the hook about tonight." She gave him a smile and quickly pushed him away. There was nothing wrong about sleeping at her apartment, but there was something wrong about spending time there without Castle. The had spent too much time apart early on to go home separately now.

"Let's start interviewing the usual neighbors and getting background information on this guy. Castle and I will head back to the precinct to get some warrants going, and then we can meet at the store later today to see if any of it is connected," She instructed. "Lanie, you'll call if you find anything?"

"You've got that right," Lanie responded.

"I don't see how any of this can't be connected," Ryan said before they split up. "What're the odds?"

"I know one thing is for sure," Castle added on. "Someone is going to be on the naughty list this year."

**A/N: Thanks for showing an interest in the story! I hope you all continue reading and review :)**


	3. Missing Pieces

**Winter Heat**

**Ch. 3: Missing Pieces**

After heading back to the precinct to set up the murder board and start figuring out who exactly their vic was, Kate knew they were going to have to visit the toy store Stanley Nicholson owned. He was widowed, had a son and daughter and law who lived in Michigan, and they had two grandchildren. Other than that, he had no family in the immediate area to get some history on the guy. So they hopped back in her car and met Ryan and Esposito at Santa's Workshop.

"This is the best case ever!" Castle had exclaimed as he got out of the car.

"Santa's Workshop? That's the name of the store?" She asked dumbfounded as she stared up the sign hanging above the door.

"Isn't it great?" It was amazing how the first snow of the year could turn Castle back into his nine year old self again. It was entertaining to see, and as much as she could try to pretend she wasn't enjoying it, she really was.

The group of them headed into the crowded store where little kids were running around, parents zoomed around with their shopping carts, and others waited in the massive checkout lines. There were signs directing people to the back of the store to see Santa, where they found multiple elves, some stuffed reindeer, and who appeared to be a replacement Santa sitting on a red and green throne. Snowflakes cut from paper, lights, Christmas trees, and candy canes filled the area, and there was of course a massive line of children waiting to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.

"Excuse me," Kate tapped on one of the worker's shoulders whose manager badge read "Tammy." "I'm Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. Who can I talk to about Stanley Nicholson?"

"You can talk to me," The cheery lady replied. She had a southern accent, wore bright red lipstick, and her hair reminded her of something you saw in the fifties. "I'm Tammy Smart, store manager. How may I help you?"

"I think it's best if we talk about this away from the kids." Tammy led them into the employee break room where she then proceeded to tell her about the murder and question her about Stanley's life.

"He opened this store when he was in his thirties. He loved kids and he loved to see their happiness when they found something new to play with or to see how happy they were even if they were just browsing with their parents. He loved Christmas! He was the resident Santa Claus for a reason and everyone liked him. I don't know who would want to kill him," Tammy rambled on.

"Can you think of anyone Mr. Nicholson might not have gotten along with? Employees, business partners, estranged family?" Castle took a turn to ask.

"Not that I can think of."

"Thank you for your time. Detectives Ryan, Esposito, and myself will need to interview all of the staff members who work here to rule any possible suspects out," She told Tammy.

"Of course, Detectives. Anything for Stan."

She and Castle helped the guys start interviewing employees knowing they didn't have anywhere else to start. They started out with those in management positions, who were also the employees working the visitation with Santa. Before they even started, she made Castle promise not to get too carried away, knowing he could easily go too far asking questions just to get the case to fit the story in his head.

After interviewing those in the visitation area, no one really stood out to her. Most of them were employees of the store who thought of their vic as a great old man. A couple of the elves even said he was planning on expanding the business. The replacement Santa was a co-manager of the store and an old friend of their victim named Charlie Peterson. He was called in after Stanley didn't show up for work.

"No one thought that it was weird he didn't show up?" She asked.

"It was unusual, but we figured he was just coming in later or something," Charlie told them. "No big deal." After getting statement from all the employees they could, they got in the car and headed back to the precinct.

"I bet I know who killed our Santa Claus," Castle said as they drove away from the store.

"Really? And is that based off of the magical evidence left by elves that you found at the crime scene that no one else did?" She playfully asked.

"No, because I bet it _was_ one of the elves."

"Why the elves? I'm surprised you didn't go with Jack Frost or revenge Santa."

"They were all too nice, which is exactly why they would be the least suspected. Though those are both very good answers..."

"You're corrupting me," She joked as she flashed him a smirk. "Hey Castle, can you get my phone?" She asked as it began to ring. She would have answered it herself, but there was one driver tailgating them while the one next to her kept acting like he was going to run them off the road.

"Beckett," He answered as he tried to keep a straight face. There was a pause before he said, "Yes Lanie, I know this isn't her." She rolled her eyes and knew she'd have to explain this one later on. "Mhm. Mhm. Okay," and with that, he hung up.

"What did Lanie have to say?"

"She said that it was cute how you had me answering your phone and to meet her in the morgue."

A half an hour later, she and Castle met Lanie with Stanley Nicholson's body. This was pretty quick for her to be getting back to them, so she wondered if she had a print that was uncovered or had an idea about the murder weapon.

"Sorry to call you guys in here so quickly, but there were a couple of things I found that I wanted to tell you about," Lanie said.

"Did you find traces of magic?" Castle asked.

"Sorry lover boy, not quite," Lanie retorted with a smirk. Lanie turned on the overhead light and held up Stan's right hand.

"Are those burn marks?" She asked as she looked closer.

"Mhm. And they occurred post mortem too. I didn't see them at the crime scene because Mr. Nicholson had on the gloves and boots. The skin on all of his hands and feet have been burned," Lanie informed them. "There are even some burn marks on his chest too."

"That's strange…Is there anything else?"

"Well after examining his head wound, I can't really narrow down the murder weapon aside from it was a heavy object and that he was beaten with it several times, so there has to be some DNA left on it. That's the best I can do for you right now."

"Thanks, Lanie," She said as she and Castle headed out of the morgue. "So our victim was burned after he was killed…what does this even mean?" She asked Castle as they walked to the elevator.

"Maybe it's supposed to send some sort of message? Maybe our Santa Clause gave our killer coal for Christmas. Fire? Coal? Get it?"

"You're not going to let up on the Christmas jokes are you?" She glared at him.

"Not a chance."

* * *

><p>Upstairs, she gave Ryan and Esposito the list of employees to start running background checks over. The list was extensive and she knew it would probably take the rest of the day to complete. Castle ended up lending them a hand while she talked to the family in Michigan. Because they weren't in the area, she told them to hold off on coming to collect Mr. Nicholson's things and make arrangements since this was still an open investigation.<p>

As the day began to come to a close, they decided to hold off until the next day to start narrowing down their list and sorting through financials, phone records, and any security camera footage. As Ryan and Esposito bid goodnight, it was just her and Castle in the bull pen packing up.

"So Detective Beckett, do you have any plans for this evening?" Castle asked as he leaned against her desk.

"Well…There is this guy I've been seeing. He's tall, has a thing for snow and Christmas, and some might say he's ruggedly handsome."

"Is that so?" Castle asked with a grin as held out his arm for her to take.

"Yeah…but there is something else," She said as she linked arms with him and they began walking away. She leaned mouth close to his ear and whispered, "He's one hell of a kisser." She could see the goosebumps that had formed on Castle's skin and loved the gulp that followed.

"So this guy…what exactly do your plans with him involve?" Castle asked as the elevator doors closed, still leaving them alone.

"First, we're going to get something quick to eat; I was thinking pizza at my place. Then we're going to settle down on couch, maybe pop in a movie," She played along with him.

"I like the sound of that," Castle smiled and pulled her close to him.

"Oh, but there's more."

"More?" Castle asked surprisingly.

"Mhm," She leaned in close to him like they were going to kiss, and just as their lips were brushing up against each other is when she answered, "You forgot about dessert." Castle's body tensed as he sighed and leaned into her. He was hoping to seal what was left of the gap between them, but as luck would have it, the elevator doors opened to let them out before that could happen.

"You are a cruel woman," He mumbled as they broke apart and new people hopped on the elevator as they exited.

"What if I told you it isn't pizza that I'm hungry for?" She bit her lower lip and asked him.

"I would say there is nothing wrong with skipping to dessert." Oh yes, tonight was going to be another great night.


	4. Arson

**Winter Heat**

**Ch. 4: Arson**

**A/N: I hope everyone had a great holiday! I got a little behind with this story, so even though it's after Christmas, hopefully you won't be sick of the holiday aspects thrown in. I'll have another chapter up in a couple of days. In the mean time, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and thanks for reading! **

After a wonderful night with Castle, they were both awoken by her phone ringing early the next morning. Neither was too pleased and Castle's first reaction was to try to grab her phone from her hand and chuck it across the room.

"Castle, no!" She whined as she grabbed the phone back from him.

"It's not time to get up yet," He groggily complained. "We still have half an hour until the alarm was set to go off."

She took back the phone and answered, "Beckett."

"Hey, sorry to wake you," Ryan's came on the other line.

"Another body?" She asked stifling a yawn.

"Actually, no. I just got a call from a friend of mine who was out patrolling when he got the call; Stanley Nicholson's apartment burned down last night. Fire department is still waiting for things to cool down before they investigate, but there's a good chance that this is related to the murder."

"Good chance? I would say the odds are a lot higher than that. Castle and I will meet you and Esposito there instead of the Precinct in a little while." When she hung up the phone, Castle was laying back down with the covers pulled over his head.

"What did he say?" Castle mumbled through the layers.

"Let's phrase it this way: Our case just got a lot more interesting."

"More interesting than a dead Santa Claus with no known enemies?" Castle asked as he emerged from under the covers.

"It seems that way. You going to get up and come with or are you going to sleep the day away?"

"First, I'm going to watch you walk away as you attempt to cover up with your bed sheets. Then I'll get up and change and get a pot of coffee going," He answered with a straight face. Gosh he was so sexy in the morning with his rumpled hair and unshaven face. If she didn't have to go to work, she would have climbed right back in bed with him.

"Reverse the order of the last two on your list and this day will be off to a great start," She stated as she climbed out of bed. She could tell by the look on his face that he understood that if he got coffee going first, he would be wearing very little, and she would be enjoying every minute of it.

* * *

><p>The two of them got to Stanley's apartment just after Ryan and Esposito hopped out of their car. NYFD was still on the scene along with some other officers Kate recognized from the Twelfth.<p>

"Morning," the two groups greeted each other as they flashed their badges and crossed through the caution tape.

"Excuse me, I'm Detective Kate Beckett. Can someone tell me what's going on here?" She asked as they found a group of police and firemen outside of the apartment building entrance. "We're the detectives working the murder of the burnt down apartment."

"I can talk to ya," An older fireman with a mustache approached them. "I'm Chief Willaim Bryant. My guys responded to the call about smoke coming from an apartment around 4AM this morning. We came here to find the apartment in flames and put it out."

"I was told in a preliminary report that this probably wasn't accidental," Ryan spoke up. "Can this be confirmed?"

"If you guys want to follow me, I'll take you up," The fire chief said. They followed the guys up to the apartment where some firemen were still sifting through the debris. "We found something over here," he said as he led them into what had been the kitchen. "Our guys found a small seed by the oven that is the cause of the explosion. It's likely it could have been hidden inside it so your CSU team wouldn't find it when they swept. I can also tell you it came from a homemade devise, but it had to have been relatively stable to have waited this long to blow."

"Arson," Castle stated. "Not sure how to work this one into my theories…"

"Our killer must have planted the seed after he or she killed Mr. Nicholson," She stated as she looked around. "Ryan and Esposito, now would be a good time to head back to the precinct and start sifting through the security footage you got from the building supervisor."

"You got it," They gave her thumbs up.

"Chief Bryant, have you responded to any other calls recently where you've found this type of blast seed?" Castle asked. She loved how he was already inside her mind without having to say anything.

"Multiple; Its been a regular occurrence over the last six months, but this is the first time its been on a dead guy's apartment."

"Do you remember the locations of the other fires?" She jumped in to ask.

"Not off of the top of my head, but I can fax you over the information."

"Thank you, Chief. I'm sure we'll be in touch."

After the meeting, she and Castle began sifting through Mr. Nicholson's phone and financial records. He was a relatively wealthy man and there was nothing unusual about the bank account. The only noticeable thing on his phone records were the regular calls—one in the afternoon and one at night—to two numbers in Michigan, starting a month ago. The weird thing was they weren't even to his daughter's house or cell phone. One was to his son-in-law's cell phone and she could only guess the other was to his work phone.

"Maybe they didn't get along," Castle suggested. "Though if my father-in-law was Santa Claus I would spend more time sucking up and less arguing."

"Now that you mention it, Ryan and Esposito said one of the neighbors said they heard arguing coming from his apartment the night before he was killed," She said sorting through the massive pile as she pulled out the phone records again. "It was around 10:30pm, which is seven minutes after he received a call from his son-in-law!"

"Looks like we need to talk to that son-in-law. Didn't they say they were going to come into the city to start sorting through his things? Although now that his apartment burned down that's going to be rather difficult…" Shoot, she forgot about the voicemail the daughter had left on her work phone during the night. They had decided to come into the city anyway and were flying in today.

"Their plane gets in around 2pm. We can always send uniforms over to the airport to pick them up and make a pit stop here before they go to the hotel."

An hour later, Ryan and Esposito came back from watching the security footages, but unfortunately they didn't have any luck.

"There is footage of the main entrance into the building on the day that our vic was murdered, but around 4am, the video "conveniently" cuts out until 6am when we see the supervisor and some mechanics trying to get it working again," Esposito filled them in.

"Thanks for trying, guys," She thanked them. "Were there any surrounding buildings that might have gotten something?"

"I don't think so. There were only a couple buildings we didn't have access to, so they're probably abandoned," Ryan answered. She paused to breathe and clear her head, thinking about what their next move should be while they waited for the relatives to fly in and the fire records to be sent to them.

When two o'clock rolled around, uniforms were sent to pick up the daughter and son-in-law and they returned to the station not too long after. She and Castle introduced themselves as they sat them down in the conference room to get a feel on these guys.

"Hi, Danielle and Derek Thompson? We just have a couple of questions to ask you two to help us in our investigation," She politely explained.

"Anything to help, Detective. What would you like to know?" Danielle asked.

"According to our phone records, Mr. Thompson, you were calling your father-in-law regularly twice a day for the last month. Can you tell us what that's about?" Castle asked.

"He was getting ready to expand his shop and asked me to help him with it. We would call each other back and forth to talk about that type of stuff," Mr. Thompson answered.

"He would even fly here to New York every couple of weeks or so to help out," Danielle added on.

"On the night of your father's murder, we have neighbors who said he was arguing with someone around 10:30pm, which is when the two of you would have been talking on the phone. What was the argument about?" She asked.

"It was nothing, really. We had a disagreement over some contracting stuff." She wasn't sure what was going on here, but something seemed off. When she looked over to Castle, she could tell he was thinking the same thing. His answers were choppy, which meant someone wasn't saying something, and she needed to know what exactly it was.

"What is it you guys aren't telling me?" She looked to the two of them. "I know something isn't right so let's cut to the chase." Danielle looked to her husband and she honestly looked worried and unsure if she should say something.

"What is it Mrs. Thompson?"

"Derek was here in the city around the time you said my father would have been killed." Ding, ding, ding they had a winner!

"Is that true?" She immediately looked to the husband.

"It's true, but I didn't see him that night. I was staying with my buddy Danny Nixon in Staten Island. I didn't say anything before because I know how it looks," He confessed.

"Mr. Thompson, by withholding information from us, that makes you look guiltier. We're going to be checking your alibi and you better hope that Danny remembers this visit." And with that, she and Castle left the room.


	5. A Proposal of Sorts

**Winter Heat**

**Ch. 5:** **A Proposal of Sorts**

"He's looking guiltier and guiltier by the minute!" Castle quietly exclaimed to Kate as the door closed behind Danielle and Derek Thompson.

"It seems that way. Ryan, you want to check that alibi? Don't let the husband leave until we know one way or another where he was that night," She asked as she handed him their notes from the meeting.

"Sure thing. And while you guys were in there, the fire chief sent over those records you wanted," Ryan replied.

They began sorting through the records of all of the arson fires in the last six months that involved the same type of blast seed found in the their vic's apartment. They all involved apartments and buildings within a twenty mile radius, but the buildings themselves had no common factor; some were in wealthy areas and others were in the shadier parts of town.

"You know, I was thinking…" Castle started off, "If the fires started about six months ago and they occurred just about every three weeks to a month, that would fit right along the time line of when the son-in-law would come into the city."

"It would make sense…" She pondered as she took a stack of papers from Castle.

"Do you think there's a way we could contact the fire department of their home town to see if they've had any brushes of arson like the ones here?"

"It might be worth a shot, but I won't do it until we get that alibi. Ryan?" She called over to his desk.

"Thanks, bye," Ryan said as he hung up the phone. "I just talked to the guy the son-in-law said he stayed with and get this: His alibi checks out."

"What?" Castle asked. "I was sure he was our guy!"

"Danny says that he and Derek were in fact at his house watching the New York Giants game that night, and he said that the both of them crashed around 3am."

"Just because he's not a murderer doesn't mean he's not an arsonist. Can we still check into the city in Michigan?" Castle asked.

"That will be up to the department to decide since that's no longer homicide," She said as she wandered over to the murder board to look at everything. They were at another dead end. "It's getting late. Let's call it a night and look at this thing with fresh eyes tomorrow," She declared.

"You two up for a drink?" Esposito asked her and Castle. "Lanie and I were going to go up to that new place around the block. Honeymilk here can't go because he and Jenny are doing yoga."

"You had to tell them?" Ryan looked to Esposito and asked.

"I can't, Alexis and I were planning on decorating the tree. Beckett, you want to join us?" Castle looked to her and asked.

"Do you two ever spend a night apart?" Ryan grinned and asked. Esposito then nudged him hard in the side and Ryan added on, "Did I…say that out loud? Its been a long day…"

"Nice try, Ryan. Someone go let Mr. Thompson go and I'll see you guys tomorrow. Let's go, Castle." The boys proceeded with calls of "Ooo," but with one look back at them, they quit and quickly turned away.

* * *

><p>Back at Castle's loft, Christmas music was being blasted, pine needles coated the floor, there was a fire in the fire place, and decorations were scattered about. She watched on as Alexis handed Castle multicolored lights and garland and Martha sat next to her with a glass of red wine. She wondered to herself why she didn't realize this is where she belonged sooner.<p>

"Hey Kate, we need a pair of scissors and the hooks for the ornaments. Can you grab them from my desk?" Castle asked as Alexis began wrapping him with the lights instead.

"Richard, Kate is a guest. Let me go grab them," Martha said as she began to get up.

"It's not a problem, Martha. You stay put and I'll grab the rest of the wine while I'm up," She smiled and replied. As she went into his study and looked on his desk, it was almost too messy to figure out where he kept everything. Maybe it was a good thing he didn't do paperwork. "Castle, where are they at?" She called. When there was no answer, she decided to look in some of the side drawers. It wasn't snooping if he did it all the time to her desk, right?

After checking the three drawers on the right hand side, she opened up the first one on the left hand side. She found the scissors sticking out from underneath a stack of papers and opened the second drawer hoping to find some tools and the Christmas hooks. Instead, she was shocked to find a little black velvet box. Was this what she thought it was? Did she dare open it? What would she do then? Act like she never saw it or confront Castle? She knew they were headed in that direction, but she wasn't sure that she was ready for marriage so soon.

"Kate, did you find everything?" Castle asked as he stumbled into the room with a grin on his face. Like a deer in the headlights, she looked up to him holding the box in one hand and the scissors in the other. After what came next, she should have just shoved the box back where she found it and continued on with the evening. When Castle realized what she was holding, his face changed and all he could say was, "Oh." An awkward silence fell through the room as neither of them knew what to say next.

"You weren't…supposed to find that…" Castle finally managed to stumble out. It confirmed that there was an engagement ring in that box waiting for her.

"Castle…"

"This wasn't exactly how I had it planned…I thought maybe for Christmas or New Years. I wasn't sure. I just knew I had to have it for when the moment was right."

"I…I don't really know what to say." A part of her wanted to say yes, yes, oh god yes. She knew that Castle was her one and done, but why was there a part of her holding back?

"You don't have to answer… I don't want you to if you're not ready," Castle told her. She looked down to the box and up at him. The way this all caught her off guard, she knew that she couldn't possibly accept this ring.

"Here," She handed him back the box. "I can't take this, Rick. Not like this. I'm sorry." He looked devastated and she hated herself for what she just did to him. He had been carrying that ring around and she just handed it back to him like it was Christmas cookie she was too full to eat.

"I understand," He replied as he took it back and put it in his pocket.

"I found the scissors," She said holding up the pair. It felt stupid say, but there were no right words for that moment. "But...I should probably go."

"Kate…please...this never happened. Let's just go back out there and enjoy the evening," He pleaded as he laid his warm hands on her arm and attempted to smile.

"It's getting late, Castle. We have long day ahead of us tomorrow. I think it's for the best." She wanted to hug and kiss him and take the sorrow off of his face. They were supposed to be done with the 'we don't talk about' phase, but there she was backing off when something scared her the most instead of confronting it head on.

"If that's what you want, I'll walk you out." And there he was supporting her when he should be begging her not to go. Damn.

"I take it you two are heading out because you couldn't find the hooks?" Martha asked as they passed through the living to get to the front door. She and Alexis were now putting the final touches on the garland and getting ready to hang ornaments on the tree.

"Actually, Kate is rather exhausted so she's going to head back to her apartment and get some rest," Castle covered for her with a smile.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay in the guest room or something, dear?" Martha asked as her and Alexis looked to each other. She knew they knew something was wrong but wouldn't dare ask what it was.

"Castle asked the same thing but I'm sure. Goodnight," She bided as Castle slipped on her coat. He walked her out into the hallway and closed the door behind him to give them one last bit of privacy. Even if they stayed inside and didn't exchange any words, their faces would have said it all.

"I'll see you in the morning?" She asked Castle. The two of them looked to each other, hoping the other would say something to change their mind. It never happened.

"Yeah, I'll see you then. Goodnight." They kissed cheeks and she turned away to head for the elevator. As she climbed in and the doors closed, she hoped she wasn't making a terrible mistake.

**A/N: What did you all think? Reviews are greatly appreciated :) **


	6. Lies

**Winter Heat**

**Ch. 6: Lies**

It was stupid of him. He never should have bought that ring. Not until he knew Kate was one-hundred percent ready and would say yes. But Richard Castle did it anyway. A while ago, actually. They had just started dating and he was coming home from the precinct one day when he passed a jewelry store. He had gone inside just to be nosy but there it was: This beautiful one carat asscher shape diamond ring with little diamonds circling half of it on each side. It was just sitting there for the entire world to see, and as soon as he saw it, he knew he had to have it for Kate. It was perfect for her. But now he was worried he wouldn't ever have the chance to give it to her.

Did she even get to see what it looked like? He was pretty sure that she didn't even open the box to look at it, because it was still closed when he came in the room. Maybe if she saw it she would have changed her mind…No. It still wouldn't have made this situation right.

When Kate volunteered to look for the scissors and hooks, he had completely forgotten that he had put the ring in one of his drawers where she could find it. Actually, he didn't think that Kate would have been going through his desk in the first place. But she did, and the ring freaked her out, and she left him at his loft after that. He said that he would see her in the morning, but was that what she wanted? Was that what _he_ wanted? It hurt him to have to take that ring back from her, but he did understand. It wasn't _the_ moment. _The _moment would have had candles, wine, a romantic dinner, and it would have been just the two of them. Kate would have teared up as he got down on one knee and he would have been grinning like a fool. He just desperately hoped that that moment was still going to come and that when she gave the ring back, she didn't mean forever.

* * *

><p>As she lay awake in bed that night, Kate couldn't help but play what happened in Castle's study over and over again in her head. There were so many ways that that situation could have played out differently, and of course one of the worst scenarios happened. I guess it could have been worst: they could have had a major fight in front of Martha and Alexis and actually broke up. Though she wasn't sure just walking out of his loft was much better.<p>

She didn't get very much sleep and was actually thankful when the time was close enough for her to start getting ready for work. That gave her something to focus on other than that ring...But how would things be at the precinct today? A part of her hoped that they could just continue on and they could act like all of that never happened, but it was going to be weird. She asked him if he would come in today but would he really? She wouldn't blame him if he didn't. No. He would come today because she asked him to, and he was going to stand with her.

She was the first ones there when she arrived at the precinct. Esposito came in a half an hour after her, Ryan shortly after Esposito, and last but not least, Castle came in last. The last thing she wanted was for Ryan and Esposito to find out that something was wrong between she and Castle right off the bat, so she put a smile on her face and accepted the coffee when he handed it to her. They smiled and greeted each other almost like normal, which caused her to think that maybe they would be able to put on brave faces after all.

"So where should we start this morning?" Castle asked as he sat down in his chair.

"Well, I was thinking that we should check Mr. Nicholson's employee list again and see if any of them have a history of arson or a criminal record. Maybe there is something there that we missed before," She suggested.

"You got it," Esposito said as he took the list from her.

"Castle and I will take the first half and you and Ryan take the second half," She instructed. The only thing she didn't take into account was that she and Castle would have to work together, side by side, and try to make conversation. And awkward it was: whenever one of them brushed against each other, they would just kind of look up to each other and smile and continue on their way. They wouldn't really say anything that wasn't related to the case, which made for a quiet work area. They were trying to get along, but once she caught Ryan and Esposito looking their way, she knew they were busted.

"You two find anything on your list?" Ryan asked from his desk.

"Nada, you?" She asked as she let the papers drop and scatter all over her desk.

"Nope." The four of them sighed and leaned back in their chairs. What was it they were missing? They had no leads and she was beginning to run out of ideas. If only they could find that murder weapon...

The phone once again began to ring, but this time it was Ryan's.

"Detective Ryan," He answered. "Yes, Danny Nixon. We spoke on the phone last night." All three of their heads turned to look at him.

"There is only one reason a witness would call us back after we talked to them," She said as she let herself forget that she and Castle were barely talking and that he would probably finish her sentence.

"They're either giving us new information…" Castle began to say.

"Or they lied," She finished his thought. Ryan hung up the phone and looked to all three of them.

"You guys will never believe this," Ryan started out saying to them. "Danny Nixon is coming to the station to talk with us. He lied about Derek Thompson's alibi."

* * *

><p>When Danny Nixon got to the station, she asked Ryan to come into the interrogation room with her. It wasn't personal to Castle about last night (though part of her knew it probably was), it was just that Ryan had originally talked to him last night and she wanted to join in to get a feel on this guy.<p>

"Danny Nixon, I'm Detective Kate Becket and this is Detective Kevin Ryan, who you spoke to on the phone. I need you tell us how you know Derek Thompson and everything that happened when you saw him three days ago," She told him firmly.

Danny told them he met Derek in college when they both attended the University of Buffalo. Derek majored in business and he accounting. He told them about how he met Danielle and their family and the relationship they all had with each other.

"How was Derek recently? Did you notice anything different about him whenever you saw him?" Ryan asked.

"It's true that Derek would stay with me whenever he came into the city, and I did see him briefly three days ago. I didn't think anything of it at first, but whenever he stayed here, he always smelled like smoke, which I thought was weird because I'd never seen Derek smoke a cigarette or cigar. I tried joking with him about it once, but all that did was make him all weird and angry, so I backed off. He left here around midnight three nights ago and I didn't see him after that. I got a phone call from him the next day saying he might need an alibi for his bosses at work. He said it has something to do with where he was when they couldn't contact him in his New York office, so I said okay.

"Then I heard about Mr. Nicholson in the paper, and I got the phone call from you guys, so I freaked out, and then I did what I was told: I lied. I felt terrible afterwards and started putting the pieces together, and I realized that I made a terrible mistake. I couldn't be held responsible for anyone else that lost their lives if…"

"If Derek was the killer?" She finished his sentence. "Danny, you did the right thing coming forward, but this was information we needed last night." She got up and decided to let Danny mull things over there. The poor guy was nearly a wreck, but Derek had over a twelve hour head on whatever his next plan was, and he would have a plan. They needed to find Danielle and Derek Thompson and fast.

**A/N: I had more I wanted to write for this chapter but I simply ran out of time. More is coming soon! Feedback is appreciated as always**


	7. Ambush

**Winter Heat**

**Ch. 7: Ambush**

"So what's our next move?" Castle asked as he and Esposito met she and Ryan coming out of the interrogation room.

"We need to find Danielle and Derek Thompson. He has a fourteen hour head start on us so there's no telling what has happened since then. We need to get Danielle and their son into our custody before he hurts them, and then we can worry about Derek," She instructed as the four of them walked to their desks. "Let's start calling them up and see what we can find." And as expected, they couldn't reach Danielle or Derek. The four of them took turns pushing redial and leaving them messages on their voicemail. She just hoped they weren't too late.

"Who else can we call that might have seen them?" Ryan asked.

"The hotel!" Castle exclaimed. "The uniforms that took them there last night would know which one and where it's at."

"I'm on it," Esposito called as he immediately got on the phone. Within in fifteen minutes, they knew that Danielle and Derek were dropped off at a Hampton Inn fifteen minutes from the precinct, and in another ten, they were in their cars heading to that hotel. She knew that they wouldn't find the family there, but if her suspicions were right, Derek Thompson had taken his wife and child somewhere and they were in harms way.

The car ride with Castle was normal at first: It was just the two of them going to pick up a suspect like they had done many times before. But after a few minutes, the awkward silence returned, but it was Castle who decided to break it.

"I missed you last night," He said to her. "The tree turned out great. We found the hooks in a kitchen cabinet."

"Odd spot," She replied. Odd spot? That's all she had to say after they have hardly spoken a word to each other all day? How stupid!

"Alexis said we must have put them there after we couldn't find them last year."

She smiled and said, "Only in your house." The car fell silent again before she asked, "Are we really doing this, Castle? Faking the small talk?" But before they had time to talk about the bigger issue at hand, they had reached their destination.

When they entered the building and made their way up to the Thompon's hotel room, it was no surprise to find it empty. Their luggage was there, Danielle's purse sat on a night stand near one of the queen size beds, and everything appeared to be untouched. After talking with the manager, they learned the Thompson's checked in shortly after they left the precinct, but there was a twist: Around 2am, neighbors began calling the desk complaining of a disturbance coming from their room, but by the time anyone went to investigate, everything seemed to be fine.

"Did anyone see them leave this morning?" She asked everyone at the front desk. If Derek fled, he must have known that Danny Nixon was going to sell him out. They all shook their heads. "Will someone be kind enough to take Detectives Ryan and Esposito to look at all the security footage between now and 2am?" One of the employees gladly cooperated and a few minutes later, she and Castle got a text asking them to join them.

"We found something at the footage from 4am this morning," Esposito said as they IT guy rewound the footage from the lobby. After putting it in play, they watched as Danielle carried their sleeping son out of the hotel while Derek pulled her arm along.

"Doesn't look she went willingly," She pointed out.

"Where do you think he took them? Ryan asked. "It can't be anywhere good."

"No, no it cannot," She answered as she stared at the screen, thinking about what they should do next. "Alright…let's head back to the precinct and start getting APB's out for them."

The car ride back to the precinct was back to normal as she and Castle theorized about what happened and where the family could be. Back at the Twelfth, everyone was on their phones as they tried to get a location on them. As they were about to meet and discuss a new game plan, her phone rang on her desk. She answered it to find Derek Thompson on the other line.

"I hear you guys are looking for me," Derek said to her in a tantalizing way.

"Derek, where are you?" She calmly asked.

"Why? So you guys can come arrest me?"

"You're not in any trouble yet, so if you just tell us where you, your wife, and your son are, we can put all of this behind us."

"I'm no dummy, Detective. You think I killed my father-in-law and you just want me in your custody so you can arrest me."

"Then why did you call me?"

"To confirm what I already knew was true. I also wanted to let you know the only way you guys will know if my family is safe, is if you find them yourselves." And with that, the phone line went dead.

"Could you guys trace the call?" She immediately asked as she hung up. Esposito shook his head.

"Sorry. We needed another fifteen or twenty seconds," Ryan added on.

"Wait a minute…I have an idea…" Castle spoke up. Even when things weren't going well between them, she could always rely on Castle to come through with a silver lining. "Some employees at Mr. Nicholson's shop said he was planning on expanding the business. Where was the location of this taking place?" They all scattered through their paperwork, only to find that no one had actually written that piece of information down.

"Castle…Are you thinking that that's where Derek is hiding out?" She asked as she picked up the phone to dial Santa's Workshop.

"If it's in the outskirts of the city, an underdeveloped building that no one knows exists would be an awfully good place to do so."

"Hi, this is Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. Can I speak with a manager please?" She asked into the other line. Tammy Smart came onto the line and was able to answer their question instantly.

"C'mon boys, get your coats. It's time for a road trip."

* * *

><p>The newest shop being built was about forty minutes away in the outskirts of the city. According to maps they looked at, it was near a loading dock often used to import seafood, but it was pretty much abandoned during the winter season. The adrenaline was coursing their veins as it often did before an arrest, but the longer she and Castle sat there in the car, the tension between them began to creep back in again. She wanted to talk to him about last night; they <em>needed<em> to talk about last night. But this wasn't the time.

"Kate…" Castle started to say. She could tell he had been running through lines in his head that he should say to her. She could see that the spark in his eye was gone today, and she felt bad that she did that to him.

"Castle, I'm sorry. I know I owe you an explanation and that we need to talk, but this isn't the time or place," She explained.

"Okay. I'll let you decide when and where whenever you're ready."

"How about tonight? When hopefully this case is solved and behind us?"

"It's a date." She gave him a smile and nodded, happy that now they were on a mutual, common ground.

As they arrived at their destination, the shop stood like they were in the middle of nowhere with the lake behind it and snow covering the ground. There was a lone set of tire tracks that wrapped behind the building and another set tbat kept going down the road. It was more than likely that their guy was here somewhere.

"Hey Esposito, you and Ryan want to go check out where that second set of tracks leads to?" She asked over the radio.

"You and Castle going to be fine by yourselves?" Esposito asked back. "We don't know what exactly this guy is capable of."

"We'll scope the place out and then when you two get back we'll raid the place."

"You got it boss."

They parked out of site of the building, so assuming Derek Thompson was in there, he wouldn't be alarmed by the cars outside. Esposito and Ryan went on ahead and Ryan gave them a salute as they passed by.

They quietly walked up, she with her gun in hand so she was ready if need be. They brushed some snow and ice one of the side windows and peered in, but it was too dark to see inside. The only thing they could see was the floor where the sunlight hit. As she tried another window, Castle went ahead to a set doors.

"Castle! What're you doing?" She whispered.

"Seeing if they're unlocked," He answered nonchalantly.

"Castle, just get over here, will you? We don't want to be caught before Ryan and Esposito get back here." They both stopped and stared at each other, realizing that that statement easily could have been subtext for what happened last night if she changed Ryan and Espo's names to Castle's. Castle didn't object anymore and just let it go, heading to a different window further along.

"Hey, check it out: you can see in through this one," Castle called her over. She put her hands to the glass and looked in. Because it was in a shadier spot, they were able to see that even though the outside was finished, the inside was mainly a large open space with partial walls built in.

"Doesn't look like anyone is here. Should we still continue scoping through the windows?" Castle asked.

"Better safe than sorry," She replied. "Besides, I think I smell gasoline. There might be a leak somewhere around here." The next thing she knew, a terrible pain was shooting through the back of her neck. She heard Castle cry, "Hey! What's going on?" And everything began to go black as her legs gave out underneath her.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Boy do I look forward to posting chapter 8...That is going to be a big one ;) I'm planning on posting it later today or tomorrow, so stay tuned! In the mean time, leave a little review! Is the case being dragged on? Story progressing too slow? If so, let me know**


	8. Burned

**Winter Heat**

**Ch. 8: Burned**

When she began to come to, Kate felt extremely groggy and the pain in her neck was still present. She had either been drugged or hit with something, she wasn't sure which. She tried to open her eyes, only to realize that everything around her was blurry and that she couldn't even force herself to keep them that way. The next thing she noticed was that the smell of gasoline was overwhelming, not like the trace amount she could smell outside. The place must be drenched in it, which wasn't a good sign.

She gave her arms and legs a nudge and wasn't surprised that they were restrained. She wondered where Castle was and if he was alright, how long she had been out, and where Ryan and Esposito were. Shouldn't they have come by now? She also wondered who else Derek Thompson had with him to help attack any visitors. She guessed he had to have someone keep a watch while he stayed with his wife and son inside the shop.

"Detective Beckett, I see you found my hideout. Kudos to you," She heard Derek Thompson say. She forced herself to open her eyes again, and this time some of the blurriness was gone. She could see that there he was, staring right at her. She was becoming more aware of her surroundings and rolled her head side to side, she came to the conclusion she was tied one of the wooden support beams inside the building. "Oh? Is someone a little sleepy?" He asked again as he smirked and walked around her.

"W-where are they?" She asked through the haze that wouldn't go away.

"That depends…who are we talking about? Because there's your partner who is being detained, and then there's my wife and son Benjamin, who are safe elsewhere." He must have seen the confusion on her face because he laughed and asked, "You really thought I would kidnap my wife and kids and put them in harm? In case you haven't noticed, this place is covered in gasoline." He took a pack of matches out of his packet and lit one. She drew in a deep breath and everything in her body tightened up as she prayed that he wouldn't drop it. "If I let this slip," He dangled the match between his thumb and index finger, "This whole place would light up like the Fourth of July. Now why on earth would I want them here for that? Believe it or not, Detective, I'm a family man." And with that, Derek blew out the match.

"Could have fooled me, since you killed your father-in-law," She breathlessly told him. The smile he gave her said it all. Too bad no one else was there to see it. Where were Ryan and Esposito? Did someone have them too? And Castle…

"You know, you haven't even asked who it is detaining your partner in the room next door. You aren't curious?"

"You haven't given me the opportunity," She retorted.

"Touché. Hey Danny, bring him out here!" He called somewhere to her left. When the man dragging a tied up Castle appeared in front of her, it was no coincidence that he had the same name as the man they had talked to just hours before in the interrogation room. It was him.

She couldn't believe that this whole thing had been an act! She swore that Danny was being honest with them the second time around. As she looked long and hard at him standing there with Castle, her gut told her that even now, this didn't look like a guy who wanted to be in this situation. Derek Thompson was black mailing him with his life.

"Look familiar? Derek asked. An equally groggy Castle looked up to her and she felt her walls begin to crumble. As she locked eyes with him, she could feel his pain and knew exactly what he would say if he was able to. She couldn't help but think how sorry she was; Not only about what was happening now, but for last night, for avoiding each other all day, and for having their last couple conversations been ones of tension instead of "I love you."

They had been played by their murderer's accomplice, and it was then that she was sure that she wasn't going to make it out of this building alive. She could hardly talk, let alone move or try to escape. They didn't make the effort to tie Castle up alongside her, which meant that they were probably going to let him go free. He was her partner and the man she loved. It had always been her job to protect him, and if this was what it was going to take to do so, then so be it.

Despite her best effort, a couple of tears escaped from her eyes and she was beginning to losing control of her emotions.

It was then that Castle cried, "No…Kate, no!" The emotion in his raw voice just made it worst. He was always able to finish her thoughts and now was no different. He knew what she thinking, and of course he wouldn't stand for it.

When Derek uttered the words, "Take him away, Danny," it broke her heart. Castle fought against Danny as he dragged him towards the set of back doors.

As she struggled against her tears, Castle continued to cry, "Not without her! Let me go! Kate…No!" Eventually he was out of site and his voice faded away, and once again it was just she and Derek Thompson.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Detective," Derek said as he began to back towards the same set of doors they took Castle through. "You're a smart woman and I admire you for that. Who knows, maybe you'll use that brain of yours and figure some way out of this next one." With his matches still in hand, he struck up another single match. It was almost like she was watching things in slow motion as he turned her back to her, opened the door, and the match slowly fell from his fingers to the floor.

She watched helplessly as fire immediately began to consume the building. This whole thing had been one elaborate and well thought out mess, and the way everything caught fire was no different. The fire followed the gasoline trail that outlined the building first, and then followed the wave-like design across the floor. It didn't take long for it to catch on to the ceiling and walls, and she realized the way he had laid this out, he wanted to make it so she had plenty of time to suffer before it consumed her.

Though it probably wasn't of any use, she cried for help and fought against the ropes. This wasn't how it should be. She was a strong, intelligent woman with a passion for getting justice for others, and she wasn't going to give up without a fight. Someone had to know things were wrong and going screwy. There had to be a way out of this. There just had to be.

The smoke and flames were closing in around her and despite her best efforts, she really was completely helpless. It was becoming too much to breathe, and with every breath she took, there was a violent cough that followed. She longed to be outside in the crisp December air where she could not only inhale some fresh air, but where she could cool off as well. The heat was becoming too much to bear and she could feel her skin beginning to blister.

As a black haze crept upon her, the only thing she could think of was how she never had the chance to answer Castle's question…

* * *

><p>One minute he and Beckett were looking in through the windows of the seemingly abandoned shop, and the next thing he knew, Beckett was collapsing to the ground and someone had a hold of him too. Castle tried to fight back, but a burning sensation in his back stopped him as he too found himself meeting the ground.<p>

When he woke up, he was groggy and in a small room that smelled of gasoline. It didn't take too long for him to figure out that they had been captured by their killer and that he and Beckett were their next victims. He heard someone call for Danny and he was yanked up by his shirt and pulled along. He was taken out into the main unit and it was there he saw Beckett tied to one of the support beams with Derek Thompson standing in front of her.

They locked eyes and everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours was forgotten. He knew that she was sorry and that pushing away from was common when she was scared. He just wanted her safe and in his arms again, but the look on Kate's face changed. The forgiveness in her eyes changed to a look of sadness. She was the one who was tied up, not him. What was there to be sad about? And then it hit him: They were going to let him go. Maybe he wouldn't go completely free, but they weren't going to burn down this building with him inside it.

"No…Kate, No!" He cried as he pushed his weak self against Danny's restraints. His arms and legs were tied up and it didn't do much good. But god damn it, he was not leaving Kate here in this death trap.

Once Derek knew that they both knew what was going to happen next, he uttered the words, "Take him away, Danny." Kate had tears streaming down her face and it honestly tore him up.

"Not without her! Let me go! Kate…No!" He cried and fought again. He couldn't just leave her here to die. If he hadn't of been drugged or whatever the hell they did, he would have won. But after using all he could to fight back, he could not break free.

He as a grown man had some tears streaming down his face as Danny tried to quickly pull him away from the building. All he could do was keep murmuring, "Kate…oh Kate…"

"I'm sorry, man," Danny told him. He didn't put two and two together that it was their Danny Nixon until now. Gosh this was all messed up! "I'm really sorry." It was then that Danny was hit with a bullet and collapsed a foot away from him in the snow. Seconds later, the windows of the shop blew out as it caught fire. Derek Thompson stepped through the door outside, and as a second shot ran through the air, that sonofabitch collapsed to the ground too.

"Castle!" He heard Ryan call. He and Esposito's footsteps pounded through the snow as they made their way to him.

"Kate...Kate…" He tried to call. He still felt weak and most of his energy was gone, and it wasn't just because he had used a great deal of it to try to wither free from his attacker. The fact his partner and girlfriend was still in that building tore him to pieces.

"Where's Beckett?" Esposito asked. As he looked to the building, not sure he could say anything if he tried, Ryan and Esposito's faces turned to horror.

"Stay here, bro!" Esposito called as he and Ryan dropped their guns and took off running towards the building. As if he was going to go anywhere else.

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed chapter 8! Just a quick thanks to those reviewing and everyone who has been adding this story as a favorite. I greatly appreciate it :) **


	9. On The Mend

**Winter Heat**

**Ch. 9: On The Mend**

**A/N: Sorry about the delay! Long story short, I was having some computer problems last weekend. But that will be fixed in a few weeks when I get my new one. This story is going to wrapping up soon, so stay tuned! Until then, enjoy the latest installment!**

As Kate began to wake again, she noticed that everything was different. It was quiet aside from the sound of a beeping machines, she was no longer burning up but freezing cold, and the air smelled of disinfectant. She opened her eyes and couldn't help but squint at the bright lights of the room. She blinked a few times, trying to form a clear image and figure out where she was. A blur of who she assumed was a person moved towards her and she finally understood that she must be in a hospital. She was alive.

As the person came to her side, their image began to clear up and she recognized the man as none other than her father.

Before she could open her mouth to say anything, her father smiled, put a hand on her cheek and said, "Welcome back, Katie." Welcome back? She was beyond confused about how she got out of that burning building and why her father just said that to her.

"Dad? I don't…I don't understand…" She looked to her father and said.

He simply smiled and said, "I'll explain to you later. You just get some rest."

"No! Don't hide it from me! Just tell me the truth!" She began to get worked up, which sent some of the monitors beeping. She wondered why her dad was here and why not Castle…Oh god! What if they killed him and they didn't want to tell her so that she would have the will to live too?

"Sh, okay, okay, I'll tell you what happened. But I think there was someone else who wanted to do the honors." And as if his timing couldn't be any better, Castle quietly opened the door and began making his way into the room. As soon as he realized she was awake, his face lit up and he rushed to her bedside.

"Kate! You're awake!" He exclaimed as he took her hand. She couldn't help but smile and was extremely grateful he was alive. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, his hair was a rumpled mess, but at least he had on some clean clothes. She wasn't sure how long she had been in here, but it was obvious Castle had been by her side the entire time.

"I'll leave you two alone. I have a couple phone calls I need to make," Her father smiled and left the room.

"Castle, I don't understand what happened. My dad just said the weirdest thing to me, and the last thing I remember was…" But she trailed off as all of the memories of being inside that burning building flooded back into her mind and she began to feel overwhelmed. "Give it to me straight."

Castle explained about how Ryan and Esposito found Danielle Thompson and her son up the road and locked in a shed when they went to investigate. It took them a while to figure out how to get into it, and once they did, Danielle warned them of Derek's plan. They called dispatch and rushed back to the shop to find them being held captive inside. Instead of storming in and risk getting everyone shot, they decided to wait for back up. That's when they gunned down Danny and Derek after they came out of the building, and when they learned that she was still inside of it.

"Esposito ran right into that burning mess and made Ryan stay with me. You can imagine how pissed Ryan was about that," Castle smiled. "I still don't know how Esposito did it, but he got you out and was fine. But um…you weren't breathing because of all of the smoke you inhaled." This is where Castle began getting uneasy and she honestly felt terrible that he had to explain this to her and watch it all happen. "I honestly don't remember a lot about what happened after the paramedics got to the scene. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in the waiting room with Martha and Alexis clinging to my arms for comfort. I think Ryan must have called them. I remember calling your dad, and once he arrived here, that's when the doctor's told us…they told us that as in some smoke inhalation cases, you were in a coma."

"How long?" She immediately asked, not sure what to say besides that. It honestly stunned her to hear all of this. It felt like she had only been out for a few hours. Had it been days? Weeks? Months? Now she knew why her dad had told her, 'welcome back.' She had come back from the dead and a vegetative state.

"About 3 days." Phew. Castle squeezed her hand and said, "Hey, it's okay. I know it's a lot to take in. Maybe the rest should wait until later."

"No," She shook her head. "I need to know everything. I should have died in that fire and I want to know how once again, I avoided an imminent death. I need to know what Derek Thompson's motive was all along. Did he and Danny die when Ryan and Esposito gunned him down…"

"Kate, stop!" Castle interrupted her. "You're in no condition for all of this. One thing at a time." She felt stupid as hot tears ran down her cheek but Castle brushed them away.

"I'm sorry…" She whispered to him. "I'm sorry that you had to watch all of that happen." Castle didn't really respond to that as much as he just smiled and pulled her into those muscular arms of his. But she knew he knew he was sorry he had to see that too. "Rick…I want you to ask me again."

"What?" He asked dumbfounded as he pulled away from her.

"Ask me again," She firmly stated.

"Kate, are you serious? Do you not remember how that played out last time I sort of-almost proposed? Here's a refresher: It didn't end well."

"I'm serious, Castle. When I was in that building waiting to die, the only thing I could think of was how I didn't get to say yes to your question, and how our last conversations didn't have the words, "I love you," in them. I'm tired of thinking we've missed our chances with each other. I don't want to wait anymore." And as it had a tendency to do so, there was a knock on the door and they were no longer alone anymore.

"Knock knock, can we come in?" Ryan smiled and poked his head in the room.

She smiled and replied, "Come on in, guys." Ryan and Esposito entered the room.

Of course Esposito took one look at Castle, grinned, and he immediately asked, "Sorry, were we interrupting something?" It was then that Castle snapped back into reality and shook his head.

"So how're you feeling?" Esposito asked as he and Ryan pulled up a couple of chairs. Now that she thought about it, she didn't really feel anything except for sore and drowsy.

"I feel fine. How did you guys get here so quick?"

"Mr. Beckett just called us on our cells as we were pulling in the parking lot," Ryan explained.

"We thought we were going to have to come take Castle home to shower and eat," Esposito said with a smile. She looked to Castle and he just kind of shrugged. That man...

They made small talk and chatted about how the case wrapped up. Castle may have thought he was being subtle, but she saw the warning looks he gave the boys when they started talking about the case. But they told her what she needed to hear: Derek Thompson died, Danny Nixon survived but was facing criminal charges, and the motive apparently behind it all was money.

As she grew tired, there was one last night she wanted to do before her father chased everyone out so she could rest.

"Hey Espo, can I talk to you for second? Alone?" She asked. Castle and Ryan didn't make any sarcastic marks. They simply smiled and left the room. "So I hear you're the one who saved my life," She smiled to Esposito and said.

"Something like that," Esposito teased back.

"Listen, I just wanted to thank you for that," She replied. "Castle told me what you did, and I know how risky it was."

"Hey, you don't have to thank me for that. I was just looking out for family; it wasn't a very hard decision. But if you keep finding yourself in these situations, I don't know how much more Castle's heart can take." When she looked to him, Esposito's eyes looked kind of mischievous, and she couldn't quite place what it was. And that's when she knew: Castle had told them about the proposal.

"He told you!" She exclaimed. Oh how Castle was going to get it...

Esposito smiled and asked, "I saw the way the two of you were looking at each other when Ryan and I walked in. Are congratulations in order _now_? Or do I need to talk some sense into you?" Luckily he left it at that. He knew that she knew what she had to do. He always there to point out the obvious. Esposito then smiled, rubbed her arm, and told her to get some rest so she could come back to the precinct soon and boss he and Ryan around.

After everyone had left, Castle came back in to say goodnight. He didn't want to leave, but her dad was forcing him to go home to sleep and shower. Before he excited the room, he turned around and said, "Kate, I will ask you again. Soon. But this time I'm going to do it right." A wide grin spread across his face as he disappeared through the door. She caught herself smiling too as she looked over to her dad, who had made himself comfortable in a hospital chair.

"I don't know what he's talking about, Katie, but if it's what I think it is...it's about damn time."


	10. The Dedication

**Winter Heat**

**Ch. 10: The Dedication**

****A/N: Kudos to Mandier for the idea for the chapter. Enjoy!****

Kate was discharged from the hospital two days later and allowed Castle to take her back to his loft. Lanie offered to stay with her at her apartment, but she made a counter offer to have a girls night with her and catch up soon instead. She and Castle had some of their own catching up (and making up) to do. With Martha and Alexis around, all three of them made sure she was comfortable. Good food was made, stories were told, and love was shared. Once again, everyone was reminded how short life was and how everyday might be their last.

She thought about Castle's words and the ring, but she eventually let it slip to the back of her mind. When it happened, it happened. She wasn't going to sit around impatiently waiting for the moment. That's not who she was. After she returned to work, she saw the looks from Ryan, Esposito, and Lanie, checking her hand to see if it was official yet. She wasn't sure if it was Esposito or Castle who told them. Maybe it was both. Either way, she was happy the way things were.

"Kate? Kate, wake up!" Castle was saying as he shook her. Oh no, not this again. Last time Castle did this, he woke her up to show her snow. If that was any indication, she was not going to let herself fall for that again. "C'mon, Kate, I know you hear me. I saw that flinch." Damn.

"Castle…" She grumbled as she pulled the sheets over her head. "Either you come join me or let me sleep." How much longer was allowed to use the 'I was in a fire and in a coma' excuse?

"Do you know what today is?" Castle asked. She could tell that he was kneeling on the floor eagerly staring at her as he waited for an answer.

"Saturday?" She grumbled.

"Yes but no…"

"Laundry day?"

"Kate!" She knew what day it was. She knew very well what day it was because Castle hadn't let her forget. Today was the day the fifth Nikki Heat Novel was coming out. There was going to be a book launch party that night, and for that, she deserved the extra sleep.

"Castle, I'm just messing with you," She relented as she sat up. "Today is the day that the rest of the day find out what happens to Rook and Nikki after you left them trapped in a freezer in Frozen Heat."

"So you do listen to what I say," He smiled.

"Sometimes," She teased as they leaned in to kiss good morning. "I for one am looking forward to see how it ends." Castle had been very secretive while writing and hardly let her have any sneak peeks. He told that it was one of his best yet and wanted it to be a surprise. "This is why you woke me up? Because you were excited about Winter Heat?"

"Nope." And with that, she was literally being pulled out of bed. She could have fought him if she wanted, but she was in no state to. Besides, his arms just felt so good wrapped around her and it was sexy as hell when he took charge. She took the opportunity to adjust herself so her legs were wrapped around his waist and she was facing him. With any luck, could take things in a different direction (perhaps back to the bedroom). "Are you trying to seduce me?" He asked as she laid soft kisses along his neck that caused him to stop in his tracks.

"That depends…where are you taking me?" She whispered in his ear as they entered his office. She could feel him giving in and fighting the decision. Her hands rubbed his back as she let her tongue lightly trace his lips. She then slowly leaned in to kiss him but pulled away right beforehand. "C'mon, Castle. We could spend the morning in bed just the two of us. Maybe get out those handcuffs…" She suggested as she nibbled his ear. He gulped and she could see his temptation growing (and feel it in a certain spot as well).

"I…but…Oh to hell with it," He said as his lips met hers and moans escaped both of their mouths. Wherever he was determined to take her was derailed as they went back to the bedroom.

An hour later, Castle was dragging her through his study again, only this time they made it to the kitchen. There on the counter was a buffet of pancakes, strawberries, and bacon waiting for them. But it wasn't that that caught her attention. Hanging up in the living room was this beautiful lavender gown; it was long and flowing with an almost silk-like material. It also had a sweetheart neckline with ruching. She saw it when she went shopping with Martha and Alexis last week, and obviously they must have told Castle to buy it for her.

"Castle…" She turned to look at him.

"Don't look at me, this was not my idea. But of course if my mother comes to me and says you would look beautiful in a certain dress for my book launch party, who am I to argue?" She smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you. That's very sweet of you."

The rest of the morning was spent together before they separated to get ready for the party. Castle, Alexis, and Martha picked her up at her apartment and she knew by the stunned look on Castle's face that the dress was worth it after all. She paired it with a flowing shall, some light jewelry, and curled hair. Walking in to the party, all eyes were on them and it didn't bother her one bit.

As they entered the room the reception was being held in, there was something odd about it that she couldn't quite place…

"Castle, I have a question…If this is a book launching party, where are all the copies of the book?" She asked as she looked around. All that she could see were giant cut outs of the cover and copies of the first three books. That's when she spotted Ryan holding a copy as he talked with Esposito and Jenny.

"Ryan, where did you get your copy?" She asked as she reached for it. Castle immediately swatted her hand away and Ryan stumbled for an answer. "Okay, what is going on? What is in that book? Is it one of _those _scenes you don't want me to see? Or did you kill me off and now you're too afraid to tell me?"

"It's definitely not the last option! It's nothing, really…It's just something personal is all…" That seemed like the half-truth, but she was sure that was all she was going to get out of him for now. She decided to let it go and interrogate them later. "So how did Ryan get a copy before I did?" She then asked as she gave him the look.

"Because there's a special one for you that I'll be presenting to you when I give my speech tonight," Castle calmly responded.

"Oh…" She felt kind of stupid, but she also knew there was something else going on...

* * *

><p>"Dude, you almost ruined it!" Detective Javier Esposito exclaimed to his partner has Martha led Beckett away towards the bar.<p>

"Sorry! It is a book launch party; I figured we were supposed to bring our books…" Ryan quipped.

"That Beckett doesn't have a copy of yet? Smoothe. Bro, does Beckett really not know?" He turned to Castle and asked.

"Nope," Castle replied with a smile. "I sent the real version to the publisher right before the print date, and if boyo here stays away from Beckett for another half an hour, things will stay that way."

* * *

><p>Hor d'ourves and champagne were served, photos were taken, and it had been a lovely night so far. Next on the agenda was Castle's official presentation of Winter Heat. As he got up on the stage, she couldn't help but notice how good he looked in his black suit with a light purple undershirt to match her dress.<p>

"Good evening, everyone. I want to thank you all for coming out tonight," Castle began saying. "It has been a joy and wonderful opportunity to write yet another installment in the Nikki Heat series." He went on and talked about the basics for the latest book, thanked his publisher, etc. "There is of course one person that this book would not have been possible to write if it weren't for them." She felt everyone's eyes in the room move towards her. "She has been such an inspiration, teaching me not only about the ways of the NYPD, but also about the layers of the human spirit, seeking justice, and what makes a perfect partner. If Ms. Katharine Beckett would come up here, I would like to present the first official copy of Winter Heat to her." Castle smiled and she took her cue to join him on stage. As photographers snapped their photo, she noticed that people were beginning to hand out copies of the book to the audience.

Castle handed the book to her and whispered in her ear, "Open it." She gave him a questioning look, wondering why she couldn't wait until later, but she did as she was told. She couldn't believe the surprise that was waiting for her inside. There on the dedication page read: _To the real Nikki Heat, will you marry me?_ When she finally peeled her eyes away from the page, Castle was down on one knee with the ring in his hand. She was shocked, but she somehow found it in her to nod her head and say yes. He slipped the ring on her finger and then gave her one of the most passionate kisses they had ever done in public. There was one time at the precinct in the interrogation room, but that was a different story...

Castle said he would find the right moment and that he did, though she wasn't sure how she felt about the world reading her marriage proposal…Either way, this dedication was a way of showing how far they had come since when they first met. The books were an excuse for why they were initially together, but it was about more than that now. She had found herself a partner not just at the precinct, but also in life; Someone she could open up to and be herself around. If Castle had even proposed like this as a joke a couple of years ago, the old Kate Beckett would have been mortified and pushed him away. As she looked at Castle through their group of friends that had now gathered to congratulate them, she wouldn't have had this moment any other way. She knew that whatever else life was going to bring to them, she knew that Castle was going to be there every step of the way.

The End

**A/N: A big thank you to everyone who read this story and to those who reviewed, favorited, etc. It means a lot ot me! Any final feedback would be appreciated :) **


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